We Don't Belong Here: Guardians of the Galaxy
by TheMostRandomOfRandomWriters
Summary: There were so many reasons not to settle on Knowhere. Maybe Ivy should have listened to a few of them.
1. Chapter 1

There are so many reasons why I shouldn't have chosen to settle on Knowhere.

It's a hub of criminal and black market activity. It's dangerous, dirty, and survives off the kinds of activities that disgust me. To cap all that off, there's a crazy guy who "collects" things – and would probably take me for his collection if he knew about me.

And those are exactly the reasons why I chose to make my hiding place there.

If you were going to settle somewhere, would you chose to settle somewhere safe, where you're not in danger crossing the street, or would you chose somewhere where you could be killed over a handful of coins?

Anyone who was hunting me would probably have some idea about my personality and know I'd never settle there. Hence, settling there was a good way to hide. If dangerous.

The first days were hard – I rarely strayed out of the tiny home I'd managed to find, not even to find something to eat. But I couldn't stay there forever.

I was pushing my way through a crowd of aliens when I heard someone yell.

No one paid attention, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw three boys and a girl much smaller than them, who lay on the ground and they were kicking.

I shoved someone out of the way and made my way across the street in a second.

"Hey," I said. "What do you think you're doing?"

The boys stopped and stared. Apparently, no one had dared to call them out on it before. "We're taking her money."

"No, you're not."

"And you're going to stop us?" said the biggest boy. He might have been my age, and almost certainly wasn't human – the pointed ears and green skin kind of gave it away. "As if any girl could. Especially one in your state."

I grabbed his ear and pulled him away, kicking out his instep.

The other two moved to attack and met with similar difficulties.

They all decided that there was probably more where that had come from and darted off.

I helped the girl to her feet. She was, as it turns out, a beggar and an orphan, trying to make enough money to stay alive. Her name was Narissa.

Through Narissa, I managed to recruit many of the younger children to help me. They would run errands for me and keep an eye out for certain people – all for a reasonable fee. That and I often gave them money in the street when they asked for it.

I think they thought of me as some kind of guardian. If I was told about them being harassed by other, older children, I dealt with the problem and ensured it didn't happen any more. A lot of them seemed to genuinely like me.

The adults I ran into didn't seem to know what they were supposed to think of me. The only other women in that place were… not _nice_ women, shall I say. For one reason or another. I kept out of sight as much as possible.

One night, I was just getting ready for bed when someone knocked on the door.

I opened the door. It was Narissa.

"Miss Ivy? That woman you wanted to know about is here," she said. "The blue one."

Now? "Thank you, Narissa."

I filled a bag with stuff – some clothes, food, and yarn and needles for knitting, the baby shoes I was working on.

I threw it over my shoulder.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

I declined to answer, instead zipping my bag shut.

There was an explosion. The door blew off its hinges.

I spun around, my knife flying through the air.

It struck the person standing in the doorway.

Nebula pulled it out and threw it on the ground. "You're quick."

"And you're breaking and entering." I set down the bag – it wouldn't be worth my life if I had to make a quick getaway. "Leave. I don't want trouble."

Nebula lunged across the room.

I had anticipated this move and sidestepped, running toward the door.

She caught me around the throat with her arm, squeezing.

I flipped her over my shoulder. She hit the ground hard.

I drove my heel into her face. Brutal? Yes, but necessary. I put my other foot on her neck and applied pressure.

"Let's just make something clear. You threaten me, you threaten my baby. And I don't think you want to do that."

The next moment, I was lying on my back on the floor, Nebula's arm pressing down on my throat. Apparently, she did want to do that.

A scream from the doorway caused Nebula to spin around. The pressure on my throat lessened.

I threw her off me.

"RUN!" I yelled to Narissa, who stood frozen in the doorway.

Narissa grabbed my knife from where it lay on the ground. She threw it at Nebula.

She missed, but I appreciated the thought. The knife landed near me on the floor. I grabbed it and started stabbing at my opponent.

I didn't really want to fight like this, out of practice and several months pregnant. But if anyone thought I was going to be an easy target, they had another thing coming to them.

Nebula seemed to be shaking off the stab wounds as I continued to strike at her. She pummeled me with her fists.

I threw Nebula off and ran.

She didn't follow me.

I ran out.

Someone ran up beside me. "Miss Ivy?"

"Narissa, I told you to run. Go, now!"

"Miss Ivy, there's someone here looking for you."

"Who is it this time?"

"A raccoon and a tree. The tree gave me a flower!"

I almost stopped short. "Run. Get as far away from here as you can. And don't come back again. I won't be here. Goodbye."

I took off in a different direction, down a street full of aliens. Let Rocket Raccoon and Groot deal with Nebula when they got there. One less problem for me. I'd been aware that there were people in this part of the galaxy looking for me, but had kept a low profile and a network of children who kept an eye out for me to make sure that I'd never meet any of them.

I stepped into a small space between two buildings and started tapping buttons on my "watch". The watch served to translate alien languages and teleport me where I wanted to go. It also tells time, yes. It was a gift from a friend named the Doctor.

The thing started sparking and died. No power.

I resisted the urge to curse. I was stuck on this planet with bounty hunters after me and no way off. Just great.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, this is a different narrator. I'm Edward.

Watching a movie about the galaxy can you feel very, very small.

That's the feeling I had walking out of the theater after _Guardians of the Galaxy_.

"That was… different," said Carmen. I don't think she's into science fiction. Or superheroes, really. She was with some friends there when I ran into her, and she knitted through the entire movie.

"Yeah. You said you wanted to talk to me after the movie?"

"Yes. Edward, you knew Ivy , didn't you? There's a few things that happened before she went missing and I'm trying to put them together."

Oh, no.

"I didn't really know her all that well, Carmen. You were in all her classes and saw her all the time. You're the one who taught her to knit, right?"

"I'm trying to get all the information." She sat down on the edge of the curb. "Ivy goes missing, then puts in a call to Miranda months saying she's okay, then never shows up or contacts anyone again? And then they found the body?"

"Something like that."

"Why didn't she contact us again? She had a decent window of opportunity to do it in. And there was something else. I met some guy who Miranda told me to tell I was a German tourist – just before all of you started to go missing. It was weird, but she sounded really scared and I thought I'd play along. What happened when you went missing, Edward?"

"I can't tell you that, Carmen."

She pulled out her knitting – it was a blanket, for a baby cousin that had yet to be born – and started working. "I'm not leaving until you tell me, Edward. It's going to rain. Do be considerate."

I glared at her. "Carmen, would you please just be reasonable? I can't tell you. Just wait."

It is a well known fact among those who've ever come into contact with Carmen that, if she switches even briefly into German – the language she was raised speaking – you are in trouble.

"Sei vernünftig?" she repeated. She took several deep breaths. "Ich habe keine Geduld mehr. I have waited and been reasonable, Edward. And I have grown tired of it." The speed of her knitting increased as she grew more agitated. "You know something, Edward. And I am not going to leave this curb until I find out what it is."

"Carmen, please. I'd like to tell you, but it's not that easy."

"How isn't it, exactly?" demanded Carmen. She stuffed the knitting into her bag and stood up, glaring at me.

"Because Ivy told me not to tell anyone!" I yelled in frustration.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it? What did she tell you before she died? _What happened_?"

"People keep secrets for a reason, Carmen. It _needs_ to stay secret."

"Ich hasse gehemnisse!" she snapped.

Wow, lots of German tonight. I needed to be careful. "… I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

I walked away.

She sprinted after me, grabbing my elbow. "Edward, don't you _dare_. I've thought there was something odd about Ivy ever since she and Miranda were attacked at choir camp. Ivy looked _insane_ when she came through the door, and she's acted weird ever since. Vanishing while we were in Peru and London… she always goes missing, and every time she does, she acts stranger and stranger. Acted stranger."

There was a moment of silence.

"Carmen, I hate the secrets too. I hate all of this. But we have to keep them."

She shook her head.

A strange breeze started to stir up.

A moment later, something landed on the pavement behind us.

I spun around to see something that definitely wasn't human running at us.

Carmen yelled something in German.

"Run!" I yelled.

She just stared. "That's…"

I grabbed her arm and pulled her after me as I ran.

We reached the other side of the building. I dropped down behind a car, pulling Carmen with me.

Carmen stayed absolutely silent. Her face had gone very white. "Split up," she breathed in my ear.

She moved away as the alien appeared, moving behind cars and bushes, away from the creature.

I took off in a different direction. Unfortunately, I don't move as fast or as stealthily she does.

The creature noticed me and let out a roar.

How I missed Ivy and her overprotective personality in that moment – she would have been yelling at the creature, trying to distract it.

There was a sudden whirring sound.

My legs started to _glow_, with the light crawling up me. I had just enough time to yell before there was a bright flash.

I was standing inside some kind of strange room. There was some kind of control console in the middle, surrounded by a walkway.

"Sorry about that," said a male voice.

I turned to see a man who looked like Peter Capaldi. The Doctor.

Just because I wasn't having a crazy enough day already.

Carmen shrieked something that I didn't quite understand. "What's going on?" she demanded slowly, her gaze all over the room. "What was that thing? Where are we? Who is _that_? And why are you staring at me like you've got something to confess, Edward?" She took a long, slow breath. "No more secrets. Start at the beginning. Don't even _think_ of leaving out a single detail."

You'd think she'd be more worried about her surroundings than about secrets.

I didn't respond for a second. Ivy was going to kill me.

"Jetzt!" she yelled.

"Okay. Fine," I said. It would be hard to hide it from her now anyway. "Look, when I went missing, some guy pulled me off the street. Someone who wanted information I had. They… beat up me. And Sharon. Sharon was there."

"Who's Sharon?"

"That friend of Ivy's with the dark brown hair? Used to wear a lot of green?"

"Oh, right. The one who joined our choir."

"Well, we got away. Ivy… she transports people between universes and dimensions. Like the ones where the Marvel characters are real."

Carmen sat down hard.

"I have a feeling that guy wanted information we had about _Guardians of the Galaxy_. Or something like that."

"Dies ist verrückt."

"Probably." Whatever that meant.

"This is a joke, right? Some kind of absolutely insane joke."

"I wish."

She sat still and was quiet.

And then there was a burst of light, and in the next moment we were both lying on a smooth ground, in a dark alley, with Ivy staring down at us.

**German translations (actual German speakers please forgive my translations, I did my best):**

Sei vernünftig – Be reasonable?

Ich habe keine Geduld mehr. – I have no more patience.

Ich hasse gehemnisse! – I hate secrets!

Jetzt! – Now!

Dies ist verrückt – This is crazy.


	3. Chapter 3

Ivy here.

I dodged in between the crowds.

Nebula, I had no doubt, was in pursuit. Hopefully, she, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon would meet and have a nice fight and forget about me until I managed to get off the planet somehow.

"There she is!" yelled Rocket.

Or not. It had been a nice thought while it lasted.

I suddenly wished that I had more weapons. I actually had several on me, but during my fight with Nebula they'd been inaccessible.

I grabbed the gun out of my jacket and fired.

The bullet hit Rocket. He collapsed.

It just knocked him out, okay? I _like_ Rocket. He's adorable – though I wouldn't tell him that. And besides, I don't like lethal weapons.

I stepped into an alley.

"This way," said a voice next to my ear.

A hand gripped mine, pulling me through a doorway into a dark room.

"Narissa?" I could barely make out her white face in the dimness.

"Hide here," said Narissa, pushing me under a table. "I'll distract them."

I crouched under the table, trying to quiet my breathing.

In my shape, I shouldn't be running from anyone. Or fighting. I should be resting up instead. Relaxing.

Footsteps entered the room. Not Narissa's. Too heavy.

I held my weapon, ready to fire.

"Just come out and make it easier," said a voice. "It'll make it easier for everyone involved."

Peter Quill's voice. Did that mean that the Guardians were already here? All of them? Or just coincidence that three people were after me who were part of the guardians?

"Look, we just need to talk to you. You're in a _lot_ of trouble and we want to help you."

I decided to take a chance. Between the Guardians of the Galaxy and Nebula, I'll take the Guardians any day.

I crawled out from under the table and stood up in front of Quill. He looked up and down. "You're in a worse spot than I thought. Ronan the Accuser has people looking for you."

"I would have liked to know that about twenty minutes ago. I was just assaulted by a bald, blue skinned Karen Gillian."

Even in the dimness, his expression was hilarious. Particularly since I'd said it in a Cockney accent. My translator was, apparently, someone damaged. It's _supposed_ to translate languages for me and make my accent blend in. Unfortunately, the damage had someone made my accent change.

"You need to come with me. We can help you. We being me and my… companions. If Ronan thinks you're important, there's nothing he won't do to so he can get to you."

"I don't doubt it. What do you want me to do?"

Narissa came running in at that moment.

Her face went white.

I stepped in front of her. "Narissa, I need you to do exactly what I tell you, okay? Go home and stay there for the rest of the night, _no matter what happens_. Okay? Tell everyone else to do that."

"Yes, Miss Ivy."

She darted out of the doorway.

"Come with me," said Peter Quill. "I'm Star-Lord, by the way."

Gamora stood outside. "Ronan has searched the galaxy for you. And anyone you might be connected with."

I happen to have _excellent_ connections throughout the galaxy from traveling with the Doctor. Unfortunately, most of them live in either the future or the past, so they weren't much good to me right now.

"Hi, I'm Ivy," I said.

"Why is Ronan

looking for you?" asked Gamora.

I considered what I should say for a moment. "Because I can travel between universes and see the future."

Peter Quill laughed.

"That wasn't a joke."

There was a _very_ awkward pause.

"How Ronan found out, I don't know. But if he gets any information from me, the galaxy is in a very, _very_ bad spot." The entire universe, actually.

"Then we need to get you out of here. Follow me. By the way, are you from England?"

"No. Don't ask about the accent. It's complicated." And extremely irritating. A British accent does _not_ work for me.

At that moment, there was an explosion of light.

The next moment, two people were lying on the ground in front of me. A girl with blond hair and a guy with dark hair. Both of whom I knew well. "Carmen? Edward?"

"Hey Ivy," said Edward, shakily.

I groaned. "Why does this always happen to me?"

"You… you're… you're dead," said Carmen. "Ivy, what's going on? You're dead." A look of horror crossed her face. "Am I dead too?"

"_No_. Hi, Carmen. No, I'm not dead. Never was."

I reached down, grabbing both her and Edward's hands and pulling them onto their feet. "Hi, Edward. Nice to see you again. Are you both okay?"

"I'm fine," said Edward. Then his eyes locked on my stomach. His eyes widened. "Ivy… what…"

There are few things more awkward than the guy who has a crush on you finding out you're pregnant.

"All right, everyone, that's enough." Carmen glanced around wildly, her gaze fixing on Peter Quill and Gamora for a moment before shifting back to me. "What's going on? I've had quite a few surprises tonight and I don't think I can deal with another just yet."

"I didn't die, Carmen. I never did."

I have never seen Carmen angry in her life.

I don't speak German and my translator was damaged, so can't relate what she said next because I didn't understand it. She was screaming, though, so understanding what she was feeling wasn't really a problem.

I glanced at Peter Quill and Gamora, who were just staring.

"This is the weirdest day I've ever had," said Peter Quill.

"I can almost promise it'll get weirder," said Edward. "Hey, Ivy. You've been living here?"

"Yes, but I think I'll be leaving soon."

"Good. If this is where I think it is, you shouldn't be here. Especially not in… your condition." He sounded so awkward saying it. I should have told him before, when I left. "And what's with the accent?"

I groaned. "It's a long story."


	4. Chapter 4

Edward here.

After ten minutes, we finally managed to get Carmen to stop yelling at Ivy.

Carmen was shaking – from shock and rage, I think. Mostly rage. "You lied to us."

"I didn't have a choice. Who could I tell? I can't go back to that universe for a while because it could tear _all_ the universes apart!"

"And you couldn't have sent a letter?"

"Interdimensional mail really isn't that reliable."

"Um… hate to break up this little reunion, but we have to go," said Peter Quill.

"Where they go, I go. They have all the information I do," said Ivy. "We need to go, Star Lord. I have a feeling your friends are getting up to some trouble where you left them."

I followed them out of the alley.

"Did you know about all this?" asked Carmen.

"That she was alive? Yes. She did tell me. I think she wanted someone who could confirm it was her when she came back."

"And that she's... pregnant?"

"The baby was new to me too." I'd heard about what happened to her, I'd known it was a possibility. I'd even thought about it when I saw her before she left. Still, it hadn't really occurred to me that she might be until I'd seen her again.

"Who _else_ knew about Ivy?"

"No one. Her abilities, just a few people. Her parents kicked her out when they found out."

"Oh. Is that when she went missing?"

"No. It was about two months after. I found her later, curled up next to the garbage cans in front of the house."

"But I thought she was dead. They said they found the body somewhere."

"They lied. She became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Then she had an accident in the kitchen with a knife and almost died. Luckily for her, the Doctor saved her life. But she didn't come back because it was better for everyone."

"Do you think it was better for everyone?"

Ahead of us, I noticed Ivy tugging up her gloves, ensuring no skin was exposed. "Yes. She transfers energy which can transport people between universes by touching things. Or people."

Carmen shuddered. "And I used to teach her knitting. I remember asking her why she didn't take the gloves off now – I thought she was just a germophobe or something. Who else knows about her… abilities?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, the Guardians, her family, Miranda, Jack, Sharon, Ariel…"

"Am I the only person on this planet who _didn't_ know?"

"It was a need to know basis, and everyone needed to know before you did. I can assure you, Ivy didn't mean anything by it."

Ivy kept glancing back at us over her shoulder.

"We left our other friends around here," said Quill. "They're going to get you off the planet."

"Thank you," said Ivy.

She turned around and gave us both a small smile. "It's going to be okay, Carmen. I'm sorry, Edward."

"It's not your fault. You weren't there."

"But it's my fault any of this stuff happens."

"In which case, I'm glad it does. Otherwise, I'd still be watching you during lunch and not saying anything."

One corner of her mouth quirked upward slightly. "You could do better than me. Besides, I'm not planning on dating until I'm ready to get married… which is never, really, since there's no way I could spend the rest of my life with someone while I have this ability. Too dangerous."

"Going to talk about your relationship problems all day or are you going to follow me?" asked Peter Quill.

Ivy jumped slightly. "Oh, sorry."

"Go with the tree," said Quill, motioning to Groot. "We're waiting to pay a visit to the Collector."

"Just a minute," said Ivy.

She walked over to two children in the shadows. Two boys, both with pink skin. One had a large gap in his mouth – a missing tooth.

"Miss Ivy?" said the one with the missing tooth. "Are you leaving?"

"Yes," she said. "And I don't plan to be back for a while. If ever. Tell everyone that. You can take whatever you want out of the house. There's nothing much of value, but I'm sure you can all put it to good use. Make sure you tell _everyone_ that. Don't just raid the place yourselves, got it?"

"Yes, Miss Ivy," they said in unison and scurried away.

"Miss Ivy?" I repeated.

"That's what they call me. I'm not sure when that started, but I liked the name."

Ivy here.

We were about to head off and be safe. What could go wrong?

Never, never, _never_ tempt fate. It always turns out badly for you.

Carina showed up.

And, guess what? I was asked to come along. Because today hadn't already been irritating enough.

I was almost certain what the Collector wanted from me. He wanted me to be part of his "collection". If he thought that was happening, he was sadly, sadly mistaken. Even supposing Quill and Gamora didn't object, I'm friends with a time traveling alien who takes badly to his friends being "collected".

The Collector addressed me directly when we came into his huge building.

"You're the Miss Ivy I hear about?"

"Who tells you?" I asked. 

"No one. I hear things. And you really stand out on this planet."

"I know." I kept my distance from him. "What do you want?"

"I want to know who you are, why you are here, and if the Asgardians sent you."

Oh, right, the Aether.

"What makes you think I have any connections to Asgard?"

"They told me about you."

Why in the world did they have to tell him? "I am here because I need to be elsewhere in the galaxy for a while. I didn't even know where this place was until we were brought here." I didn't like the way he was looking at me – especially the way he was looking at my extended stomach. In my current state, I was way more vulnerable than I would have been otherwise. The odds didn't bode well if he decided to try something.


	5. Chapter 5

Ivy here.

He seemed to realize that saying anything else to me would be incredibly counterproductive, and so turned his attention to Gamora. "Did you bring what I requested?"

Peter Quill produced the orb.

The Collector took it and walked away.

"It's an Infinity stone," I said to Peter Quill. "Like the Tesseract. Or the Aether. Basically, it could be a huge problem if he has his hands on it."

Gamora and Peter Quill exchanged glances.

The Collector spun around. "You know a lot. And I know a lot about you. I know what would hurt you. About that little girl, Narissa."

I refused to let him intimidate me. "I have more power than you could ever _dream_ of. Have you ever heard of the Doctor? He's a good friend of mine."

The Collector's eyes widened. "The... Doctor?"

"That's another reason why Ronan was looking for her," said Gamora to Peter Quill.

Behind the Collector, Carina closed her hand around the orb.

I dove for cover – accidentally, I ended up behind Howard the Duck's case – covering myself with my arms.

The blast still sent me flying against the wall.

I seriously had to stop doing stuff like this. It wasn't healthy, for me or the baby.

My first realization after becoming aware again was that my hands were glowing purple. Energy from the stone reacting with the energy that allowed me to travel between universes.

I groaned aloud and sat up. "Seriously? _Again_?" This couldn't be good for the baby.

The Collector stared at me for a moment.

I jumped up and _ran_.

Peter Quill and Gamora were behind me in a second.

Edward here.

We waited on Peter Quill's ship while Rocket and Groot went off to continue with their stuff.

Carmen, sat on the floor, staring blankly out the front. Her fingers seemed to be moving of their own accord as they knitting the rows of the blanket, unwinding the soft yarn.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Do you know what happened to Ivy?" Her voice was so low I could barely hear her.

"Well, she never exactly _told_ me. But when she went missing, HYDRA – from that Captain America movie – they wanted information from her. And that's where it happened."

"I can't believe I said that about her."

"She understands."

"And I can't believe she tricked us."

"She was trying to protect everyone."

Carmen said something in German. "She always was like that. On some level, I think she _needs_ something that depends on her that she can protect – it's how she is. It gives her purpose, and she clings to it and puts her energy in it. Having Ivy for a friend was like hanging out with a guard dog. Especially after Miranda and her got attacked in the woods. When she got back, she just kept muttering about being a coward. After that, she got so protective people eventually got scared to even look at her wrong."

That sounded like Ivy alright. I'd never thought about her actually _needing_ something to protect, but judging by everything I knew about her, it wouldn't surprise me. Miranda had told me about how fast she had taken to her promise of not sharing information, about how she had been protective of everyone – almost like a guard dog.

"I didn't think she'd _lie_ to us though," said Carmen.

"Technically, she didn't. She just didn't correct the misinformation."

"And that's not the same thing?"

"Ivy has enough trouble in life without worrying about us."

"That I don't doubt."

There was silence for a moment.

"I missed her," said Carmen in a small voice.

"So did I."

"Who else knows about the baby?"

"No one, as far as I know. I was the only one who knew she was alive. I only found out when I saw her."

Carmen started on another row. "So... I guess we're here as the movie plays out."

"Yeah."

"How do we get home?"

I shrugged. "We'll find that out."

Ivy here.

Of course, as soon as I got outside, Ronan's ships were _everywhere_.

My whole body was glowing like the infinity stone. That probably wasn't healthy – and it didn't exactly lend itself to avoiding attention.

I took off at a run – not caring where I was going, just wanting to get away.

And, due to a combination of my own insanely horrible luck and the fact that my abilities also pull me toward these things, I ran straight in front of Ronan as he was getting off of his ship.

I headed down a side street, turning to see Nebula after me. Again.

I've never been that fast a runner. With an enhanced person after me, I didn't stand a chance. I spun around and stabbed at her with my knife.

Despite what you might have seen in on TV, it's actually hard to stab someone repeatedly like that. There's these things called bones that are in the way. Not the mention the person is usually fighting back.

Still, it hurts.

Nebula knocked the knife out of my hand and put me in a headlock. "My father would probably like to adopt you."

I clawed at her arms, trying to pull them even slightly away from my throat.

My watch bumped against Nebula's arm.

I found myself at the end of the street.

Nebula stared.

I ran.

**Yes, you get two chapters today! Consider it a Christmas present. And don't forget the real reason for the season!**


	6. Chapter 6

Ivy here.

I kept running until I was far, far away from Nebula.

I found myself completely lost, in an extremely rough area of Knowhere. And that's saying something.

The fact I was female and at an obvious disadvantage made me very, very nervous. I began to fiddle with the watch, but it wasn't working – it only teleported distances of a few yards.

Until I hit the button and it transported me to the place where Groot and Rocket were reviving Drax. I don't know why it did that.

"Not clever," I remarked as Drax sat upright. "You called an army down on this planet? Seriously?"

"Quill just got himself captured. None of this would've happened if you hadn't tried to take on an army!" snapped Rocket.

"You're right. I was a fool. All that anger. All that rage. It just covered my loss." He stared at the ground.

"Aww, boo-hoo. My wife and child are dead."

Groot gasped.

"I don't care if it's mean. Everybody's got dead people! But it makes no excuse to letting everyone else around get killed along the way!"

"I'm with him," I said. "And may I suggest you go easy on the alcohol next time?"

"My apologies."

"You put everyone on this planet in danger." My hand rested on my stomach. "I've got people to protect here."

"Miss Ivy?" asked a little voice.

I spun around. "Narissa? I told you to run."

"I did, Miss Ivy. But you're here and it's all over. What was that?"

"Nothing you need to worry about anymore. It's all okay."

"What about your baby?"

"It should be fine if nothing too horrible happens to me." After this, I would visit a doctor on Xandar or something.

"Have you picked out names yet?"

"No." Fact was, if things like this happened too much, the baby probably wouldn't ever be born. I couldn't make myself believe that it was actually going to happen, that I'd have a kid.

"If it's a girl, why don't you name it Natalia?"

I stiffened. "Why do you suggest Natalia?"

"Because it's pretty."

"So it is." Of course. She didn't know about my life. My past. How could she? "If it is a girl, I promise I'll name it Natalia. What if I have a boy?"

Narissa hesitated. "I don't know."

"Well, if you have any ideas, let me know." I returned my attention to the group by the pool of yellow fluid. "The Ravengers have Gamora and Star-Lord. We need to go."

"Are you coming back, Miss Ivy?"

"I don't know, Narissa." Without my providing work, Narissa would be stuck begging again. I took off my jacket and ripped the lining. "Here. Take this." I gave her the credits – enough for her to survive off of a year. Easily.

Her eyes widened.

"If I come back, I'll see what I can do to find you a good job, or get you to another planet where you can."

"Thank you." She threw her arms around my neck.

I pulled away. "I have to go now, okay? Be careful."

Edward here.

It took us a while to get out to the Ravengers' ship.

Carmen spent most of the time directing her attention at the walls or ceiling, rather than at Ivy.

Ivy left her alone, probably not knowing what to say.

I just sat awkwardly on the floor, not knowing what to do.

Drax, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon began fixing up their weapon for attacking the Ravengers ship.

Ivy sank down next to me. She looked more tired than I'd ever seen her. "Edward... since we're having some downtime... I wanted to talk about what happened the last time I saw you."

The time when I'd confessed I was in love with her, and we'd friend zoned each other. This conversation should be interesting.

"What's there to talk about? You don't feel the same way. I can take a hint, there's no need to apologize for it."

"I didn't say that I didn't feel the same way," she corrected. "I said I didn't know and that I don't date casually."

Carmen suddenly began to show an interest in her shoelaces, tying and retying them, obviously pretending not to listen.

"So you do return my feelings?"

"I didn't say that either."

"Then what _are_ you saying? Don't be mysterious. Just tell me want you're trying to say."

"I don't really know what I'm trying to say!" she snapped. "I spent a lot of time missing you, Edward. You and everyone else."

I really, really wished I wasn't in this conversation.

"Ivy. If you can't word it, just leave it for now."

"I think I'll do that." Her face had turned kind of pink, which looked weird with her red hair.

Her hand rested on her stomach.

"How is the baby?" asked Carmen.

We both jumped.

Ivy recovered first. "It's healthy and due in about four months. I don't know whether it's a boy or girl yet." She reached a hand up into her hair and ran it through what little remained. She'd gotten a drastic haircut since I saw her last – it was practically a buzz cut. I guess she cut it because she didn't want her hair to be a problem in a fight.

Carmen pulled something out of her bag. The blanket. "Here. Take it."

Ivy's eyes lit up. "Thank you."

"Are you still knitting?"

Ivy nodded. "I've been working on a pair of little baby shoes. I've got a few baby things I've finished. I don't know if it's a boy or a girl, so I've been using gender neutral colors." She produced from her bag a little pair of grey baby shoes.

"We're coming up on the Ravengers' ship," said Rocket. "Remind me, why are those two here?" he motioned to me and Carmen.

"Because there is no way on Earth that I would leave two of my friends alone on Knowhere, where Ronan can get to them easily."

"That kind of attitude is going to get you killed."

She rested her hand on her stomach. "There are more important things than life."


	7. Chapter 7

Ivy here.

We came up on the Ravengers' ship and Rocket Raccoon started sending threats.

I can't be sure, but I think I saw Edward hiding a smile as Rocket threatened to blow the ship up.

I'm pretty sure I saw Carmen hiding a smile when Peter Quill started telling him off for threatening to blow up the ship they were on in an attempt to save them.

And I know we were all hiding smiles when Peter Quill came onboard with Gamora and started yelling at everyone.

"I have a plan," said Quill at last.

"You've got a plan? Okay, first of all, you're copying me from when I said I had a plan," said Rocket.

"I'm not copying you, I have a plan, that's not that unique of a thing to say."

"And secondly, I don't think you even have a plan."

"I have part of a plan."

"What percentage of a plan do you have?" asked Drax.

"You don't get to ask questions after the nonsense you pulled on Knowhere!" snapped Gamora.

"I just saved Quill!"

"We've already established that you destroying the ship I'm on is not saving me!"

"When did we establish that?"

"Like three seconds ago!"

"Well I wasn't listening then, I was thinking of something else..."

"She's right, you don't get an opinion... What percentage?" asked Rocket.

"I dunno... Twelve percent?"

"Twelve percent?"

Rocket burst out laughing at the same time as Edward.

"That's a fake laugh," said Peter Quill, glaring at Rocket.

"It's real!"

"Totally fake!"

"That is the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh of my entire life because THAT IS NOT A PLAN!"

"It's barely a concept," said Gamora.

"I'm with her on that one," I said.

"You're taking their side?" demanded Quill, glaring at us.

"I'd say it's a bit more than a concept, but not quite part of a plan," offered Carmen.

"I am Groot."

"So what, "It's better than eleven percent!" What the hell does that have to do with anything?" demanded Rocket, addressing Groot.

"Thank you Groot, thank you. See? Groot's the only one of you who has a clue."

Groot chewed a leaf off of his arm.

Carmen burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" yelled Quill.

"Yes, it is," said Edward.

"Just get back to your argument," I said. "The Avengers assembled faster than this, Quill."

"What?"

"I'll explain it to you... one day. Maybe."

Quill just sighed. "When I look around, you know what I see? Losers. I mean like, folks who have lost stuff. And we have, man, we have, all of us. Homes, and our families, normal lives. And you think life takes more than it gives, but not today. Today it's giving us something. It is giving us a chance.

"To do what?" asked Rocket.

"To care. And I am not gonna stand by and watch as billions of lives are being wiped out."

"But Quill, beating Ronan... it can't be done. You're asking us to die."

"Yeah... I guess I am."

Gamora stood up. "Quill, I have lived most of my life surrounded my enemies. I will be grateful to die among my friends."

Drax stood up. "You're an honorable man, Quill. I will fight beside you. And in the end, I will see my wife and daughter."

"I am Groot." Groot stood up.

"Aww, I don't got that long a lifespan anyway..." Rocket stood up. "Well now I'm standing. Happy? We're all standing now. Bunch of idiots, standing in a circle."

"I'll help in any way I can," I offered.

The next few hours were a rush of activity. I told Carmen and Edward to stay on Star-Lord's ship until I came to get them. The Ravengers, as you may have noticed, are a rough bunch. If things came to the very worst... Edward and Carmen can't fight to save their lives. Carmen took a year of karate with me and, as a dancer, is in excellent shape, but that will only get you so far. Edward... Edward has the element of surprise because he has absolutely no idea what to do and is therefore unpredictable.

I got a lot of odd looks from the Ravengers as I came onto the ship.

Yondu eyed me rather creepily as we pushed past the other men and grinned. "Who's this, Peter? Some new girl you didn't tell me about?"

"My name is Ivy Williams. I am _not_ involved in a relationship with Peter Quill, never have been, and never intend to be." I'm seventeen. The idea of dating a guy who's about thirty is just a tad creepy.

Yondu didn't pursue the topic, instead addressing Peter Quill.

Gamora and Star-Lord began to explain their plan to everyone. Fortunately, they didn't feel the need to mention why I was there.

I had to think hard about what to do with my teleporter. In a moment alone, I started trying to fix the wires. Maybe one was loose?

Rocket appeared in front of me. He took the device from my hands for a moment, inspected it, and pushed a few wires into place. "What is this thing?"

"Teleporter/time travel device/ language translator. Thanks."

He almost dropped it.

I pressed a few buttons. A second later, I was standing in the middle of a carnival from around what I guessed to be the early 1900s.

A girl with chocolate brown hair, in a dark blue dress, pushed past me. My friend Ariel. What... "Sorry!"

I spun around and found myself face to face with Edward. His face was stained with blood.

"You're here," he said, staring wide eyed.

"Do I _want_ to know what's going on?"

"Have you heard of _Love Never Dies_?"

"The Phantom of the Opera sequel? Yeah, Ariel made me watch it. Was Ariel... oh, no."

"I'll deal with everything!" He ran off after her. "Don't worry, it's all under control."

Probably best not to interfere here.

I transported back.

Rocket stared at me.

"I just time traveled back about a hundred years to Earth," I said. "It works again. Thank you so much!" I was so happy I actually hugged him.

He pushed me off with a weird look.

Yeah, that was weird.

I went back to Carmen and Edward. I gave it to Edward. "Go to the surface of Xandar. Take care of Carmen. Try to contact the authorities and let them know. Say that Ivy Williams told you."

"How do we contact them?"

"No idea."


	8. Chapter 8

Carmen here.

Appearing randomly in the middle of a busy square is a good way to get noticed. In case anyone doubted it. People ran away screaming when they saw us.

Edward grabbed my hand. "Let's go."

I'm a fast runner. Edward... sorry, Edward, but you aren't. I dragged him behind me as I ran, pushing past people.

"Come on! Ivy gave us something to do, let's do it," he said.

I followed him, staggering slightly along and definitely slowing him down.

Two of the law enforcement started running after us.

Edward stopped abruptly.

"What are you doing?"

"This is easier than finding the building and a way in."

You really think they won't say we're crazy?" I demanded.

"You got a better idea?"

One of them grabbed Edward's arm and yanked Ivy's watch-thing off his wrist. "You're aware this is illegal, right?"

Edward blinked. "No, I didn't know. Someone gave it to me. She told me that I had to deliver a message to whoever's in charge here. She said to say that Ronan is going to attack, soon, and to say that Ivy Williams says so."

The two officers stared blankly at us for a moment.

"I don't really know if that means anything to you, but she made it sound pretty important."

One of them seemed to be listening to something over an earpiece for a moment. "You'd better come with us."

Ivy here.

I didn't know if the name Ivy Williams meant anything to them or not. I just took a guess and hoped it would. Apparently, I was right. I love it when I'm right.

As we approached Xandar, I began to feel very nervous about what was going to happen next.

I wasn't worried about me, but the baby. This is kind of the thing they tell pregnant women to avoid.

On the surface, I could get badly hurt. On the ship, I could get badly hurt. Well, I couldn't go to the surface now, I'd given that ability away.

The worst part was that I'd almost certainly be pulled into the event anyhow. I didn't have a choice in the matter. The way my power works, important events like that draw me in, somehow. I just somehow find myself in the middle of them. I've just given up trying to avoid them, to be completely honest.

When I asked Peter Quill if I could come with them to help take out Ronan, I received a blank stare.

"The thing is, my abilities pull me into big events like this," I said. "It's confusing and complicated and frustrating, but the thing is, I can't avoid it either way. I'd rather be sure that I don't get hurt worse than necessary and just cooperate with fate. Or whatever it is."

It took some convincing, but they let me come.

I took my bag, which I'd brought with me off of Knowhere, and pulled out my old S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. I'd received it while training to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and had been wearing it when I "died". It had been the middle of a night. I'd got out of bed to to have a glass of water, then had a little accident with a kitchen knife. My own clumsiness. Of all the ways to go...

It felt oddly appropriate to wear it, despite the fact that it was too tight now, especially around the stomach.

The outfit received a lot of stares – and not all of them due to the unusual nature of the clothing.

"What is that?" asked Peter Quill as I got onto his ship.

"It's complicated," I replied, sitting down behind him, "and it involves some things about my life I'd rather not think about right now."

We flew toward Ronan's ship.

Had I made the right decision, choosing to come along? I would have ended up there anyway, but this was about more than just me now.

We gained access to Ronan's ship and got off of Quill's. It was so dark inside you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

"I can barely see," said Drax.

Groot opened his hand, releasing a handful of luminescent spores.

"Where did you learn to do that?" asked Drax.

"I'm pretty sure that the answer is 'I am Groot'," said Quill.

We walked forward, splitting up as we moved toward the interior of the ship.

The first group of Sakaarans charged. They found themselves being thrown against the wall by the Guardians of the Galaxy.

If I'd known three years ago that I'd ever say that...

One of them managed to get past and ran at me.

You know how Drax called them paper people? Tough as they are, it turns out if you know where to kick them, it still hurts them a lot.

Also, if you hit someone in the eye with something, it stings a lot.

The Sakaaran didn't seem too interested in attacking after that.

I looked up to see Star-Lord staring.

"What?"I said. "You seriously think I lasted this long without being able to defend myself?"

He returned his attention to the other aliens.

I followed them into Ronan's ship, dealing with aliens as necessary.

I just wanted this entire experience to be over. To be able to find a new hiding place and to have the baby.

Carmen here.

We were taken straight to the Nova Prime. Apparently, Ivy's name wasn't entirely unfamiliar or they weren't intending to take any chances about warning about Ronan. Probably a mixture of both.

"Who is Ivy Williams?" demanded the Nova Prime. "You said she gave you the message and the transporter. You must at least have seen her."

I decided it was probably a bad idea to mention that we'd known each other for years.

Edward stepped slightly in front of me and answered the question. "We met her in the street. On Knowhere. She's a Terran. Young, I think under twenty. She has short red hair."

"And why did she give you this message?"

"Something about her being busy and having to go."

The Nova Prime eyed him suspiciously for a moment. "What's your name?"

"Edward."

"Last name?"

He glanced back at me and answered.

"What was her message?"

"That Ronan will be attacking Xandar really, really soon, and that you need to move fast."

"We received a similar transmission from an outlaw known as Peter Quill. Do you know who he is?"

"She was with him," I said. "Him and some others, I don't remember who all."

"You don't _believe_ them, do you?" asked someone standing near her.

"I'm still deciding whether or not I do. What they say lines up with what else we know. What else did she tell you?"

Edward relaxed slightly, as did I. This might turn out okay after all.

Ivy here.

We reached Ronan's main room in time.

Rocket fired the weapon. There was an explosion.

And of course Ronan just turned around and stared at us.

I stayed in the doorway, completely out of the way, because I have no desire to get thrown around like a rag doll.

Luckily, Ronan was focusing on the others far to much to notice me.

Until he was finished with them, that is.

He turned his attention to me. "You finally came."

Oh, great.

He strode across the long room toward me.

I pulled out my stun gun and fired it. Unfortunately, my aim isn't that great, so I missed.

And then Peter Quill's ship flew straight into Ronan.


	9. Chapter 9

Ivy here.

For those of you who've seen the movie, you know what happened next. Ship starts crashing, Groot grows a cocoon of branches around everyone.

The next thing I was really aware of was lying face down in the dirt, coughing.

I sat up to see Ronan giving a speech to the Xandarians about how they were all going to die. Why do villains do that? You'd think they'd learn.

And then Peter Quill was standing in front of him, singing and dancing.

"What are you doing?" asked Ronan.

"Dance off, Bro!" He offered a hand to Gamora, then me. "Come on!"

"I'm sorry, but I'd like to preserve whatever dignity I have left."

"Suit yourself."

Rocket and the others started scrambling around looking for their gun.

I remembered all too late about the Infinity Stone. Hey, a person can only remember so much at once, okay?

Ronan's staff exploded.

Purple exploded everywhere around us.

My heart began racing. This _couldn't_ be good for me.

Peter Quill grabbed onto the Infinity Stone. One by one, all of the Guardians did the same.

I crawled toward them and grabbed onto – something, I think it was the stick that was left of Groot.

It was the most pain I'd ever experienced, and that's saying something. My body was in absolute agony, burning, incinerating. I couldn't scream or cry.

Then I was lying on the ground again. This time, though, there was a very peculiar in my stomach. Pain, lots of pain, so much pain.

"You okay?" asked Quill.

"On one hand, we just took out a genocidal lunatic. On the other, I think my little kid is coming out a little sooner than I expected." Probably from grabbing onto the Infinity Stone.

Quill pulled me onto my feet.

"Wait a minute," said Yondu's voice.

"Are you _serious_?"

"I want that orb," said Yondu. "And if you want to help her, you'll give it to me."

"You're despicable," I growled. Coming from me, that means something.

"Here!" Peter threw the troll-orb at him.

I'll spare you the vivid description of the next several hours because I'm trying to forget them myself. Quill and the others rushed me to a hospital in fifteen minutes, where it took them another fifteen minutes to make it absolutely clear what was going on and that if I didn't receive help, there would be trouble. After that, it was several hours of contractions, pain, and more contractions.

And finally, someone was wrapping something up in a blanket and pressing it up against me.

"It's a girl," said the woman who'd helped deliver the baby.

A girl.

I know this will sound, horribly, horribly stupid, but in that moment I thought I was holding the most beautiful little girl in the world. She had big blue eyes. My eyes or her father's eyes, both our eye colors were the same.

Edward here.

The Nova Prime turned to look at as she saw Ronan vaporized on the screen, cutting the image.

"Everyone, please leave the room. Except for you two." She gestured to us.

The room emptied.

We were so busted. So, incredibly busted.

"You know Ivy Williams, don't you." It wasn't a question.

I glanced at Carmen. Her face hadn't changed expression. She's really good at keeping calm when scared.

"We did our research. On Earth, there are pictures of you together. Both of you, with her. Red hair?"

Lying would only make us looks stupid. And they almost certainly had efficient ways to get the information out of us if they wanted it badly enough. "I knew her for about six months. Went to school with her. Carmen knew her for years."

Carmen nodded. "Ja. Well, 'knew' her might be a little strong. We attended school together and took dance classes together. I taught her to knit. But we never really knew each other well. I thought she was _dead_ until earlier... I think it was today. It might have been yesterday. It was in the last twenty four hours. I think. The last few hours have been a bit of a blur and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what just happened to me."

"I believe I've forgotten everything that you told me over the last few hours. Would you care to start over and fill me in?" asked the Nova Prime. "And please be sure it's accurate."

Ivy here.

"Do you have a name for her picked out?" asked the woman.

"Natalia," I replied. "Natalia Skye Williams." You know, I'd never really thought about naming my kids after other people. I'd just sort of thought I'd pick out names I liked. But somehow, it felt right to name the girl after the people who'd helped me get to this point.

Then the contractions started again.

And I screamed. "GOD, WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!"

One kid I could take care of. I'd planned for one. Two... not so much.

Natalia was pulled away from me. I grabbed the rails on the side of the bed and kept screaming.

The second was more difficult than the first. The whole time, I sent up prayers – _please, God, let these children be safe. Because there is no way on Earth that I am going to be able to take care of them without Your help_.

Then the baby was out.

The nurse gave it to me. "It's a boy."

I just stared at the boy dully. No name came to mind. I wasn't prepared for this.

Peter Quill and Gamora came in.

"Twins," I said. "Twins. A boy and a girl."

"Where's the girl?"

I realized Natalia wasn't in the crib. "Nurse? Where's my daughter?"

The nurse was a Vulcan looking person – except for her pink skin. Her face went a very, very pale pink. "I... isn't she... oh, _no_."

An hour long search of the hospital by nurses and doctors yielded nothing.

Gamora announced it to me. She eyed me worriedly, as if thinking I would explode.

I took a deep breath. "Star-Lord, please take my son for a moment."

He took the baby, staring at me for a moment.

I started screaming, crying, and beating my hands on the sides of the bed. "OH GOD, WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!"

God... why?


	10. Chapter 10

Carmen here.

We found out Ivy was at the hospital six hours after... it happened. We were allowed to see her two days later - two long days of questions and dealing with bureaucracy. Which, by the way, is one of the most annoying things in the world.

Ivy lay in bed, skin unnaturally white, staring blankly at the wall.

Rocket sat on a chair next to her. "Hasn't moved or said anything since she stopped screaming."

Edward reached across and took her hand.

No reaction. She didn't pay any attention to her son in the crib, either. The blanket I had given her covered the baby, who lay quiet.

"See if you can get her to talk," said the nurse watching her.

"Hi, Ivy," I said. "How are you feeling?"

No words. Not even a blink.

Edward released Ivy's hand and stared at her.

We sat there for an hour or two. Ivy didn't even seem to notice us. She just stared at the wall.

It was disturbing to see. Under any other circumstance, Ivy would have been talking with us. Maybe not saying much, but at least acknowledging us.

The baby started crying.

Ivy didn't move.

"I think he's hungry," I said. I should know – I'm from a family of seven and helped raise three of them. "Why don't you feed him?"

No comment.

"What did you name him?" asked Edward.

A tiny tear squeezed out of one eye. "Natalia..." her voice was hoarse.

The nurse appeared and gave Ivy her son and a bottle. Ivy began to feed the baby without even looking down at him.

"You can't do this to us," said Edward.

Ivy blinked.

"You can't do this to us," he snapped. He stood up, grabbing her shoulders. "You can't do this to us, and you can't do this to him. I thought you knew better."

Ivy blinked.

"I get that a lot of horrible stuff happened to you in the last few days. I understand. I heard everything, and I don't blame you for being really upset. But there's a time for mourning, and _now is not the time_!"

Ivy jerked suddenly, shoving him hard. Edward's hands released her and he staggered back, hitting the wall.

Ivy stared at him for a moment.

So did I. Was that Edward? Was that really Edward? The gentle guy who never raised his voice at _anyone_? "I didn't know you had that in you, Edward."

"I'm going to feed him now."

She covered the baby in a blanket and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Edward stepped outside for a minute.

The nurse just kept staring at her.

"Didn't think Edward had it in him," said Ivy. "Did you?"

"No. Are you sure that's the same person?"

"It must be."

"What did you name your son?" I asked.

She thought for a moment. "His name is Phillip. Phillip Steven James Williams. A bit long, but I like it."

He had her eyes.

"Ivy... I hate to ask... but who was the father?"

A vulnerable look crossed her face. "James Barnes. When I went missing, I was at HYDRA. They..." she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. "I lost my memory of it for a while, but it's coming back. All of it. Everything."

My stomach turned.

"Hence why one of his middle names is James," she said quickly, clearly trying to steer the subject elsewhere. "And... her name was Natalia."

Just saying that made her look more vulnerable than I'd ever seen her. My image of Ivy had been of the toughest girl I knew. No matter what she took, she could deal with it. I'd first met her when we were both ten, when I joined her ballet class after moving to America. I had immediately recognized her from my little brother's karate tournament – she had won several trophies and had been referred to by my brother's coach as "a promising student". In class, for the many years we'd trained together, she had been the tough girl who didn't take nonsense from anyone. It had never occurred to me that she could be hurt by anything.

There was a long moment of silence.

She took the blanket off and smiled at her son.

"How is everyone at home?"

"Jack's going to college, and Miranda and him are dating."

Her face lit up bright. "Are they? I hope they're happy."

"I don't doubt they are. I've never seen either of them as happy as they are. Jack's mom is taking them on a trip to England – I think she's always hoped that they'd get together eventually. May I hold Phillip?"

Ivy shook her head and pulled him slightly tighter against her.

Edward came in again and stood quietly against the wall.

"And how about Sharon?"

"Sharon is... Sharon. Crafting, fangirling on Tumblr over attractive and angsty fictional characters. Last I heard she was really into Star Trek. She moved away, but I stay in touch."

"And Ariel? Has she had her Broadway debut yet?"

"Ariel's starring in some new musical that they're opening somewhere – not Broadway, not yet. It's called _Phantom_. All I know about it is that whenever I see her she's humming or singing this song she calls 'Melodie de Paris' and if I hear it one more time I'll scream."

Ivy laughed.

This laughing, smiling Ivy was a complete turn around from the one I'd seen a few minutes ago. It was almost creepy.

"I think she has a boyfriend, too. She won't tell us about him, but she's never around, even in her free time. Keeps saying she's meeting with family, but no one believes her."

"What are you going to do about Natalia?" I asked.

Her face darkened and I wished I'd kept my mouth shut. "I'll find her. I'll find whoever took her. I can travel through time and through universes, and I will if I have to. If it takes the rest of my life, I will find Natalia. I'll figure out what scum thought it was a good idea to swipe my little girl from her crib. I'll take her back. And then I'll make him wish he'd never heard my name or the name of my daughter."

That's... dark.


	11. Chapter 11

Edward here.

We spent most of our time in the hospital with Ivy for the next day or two.

I filled Ivy in on a few things. Like the incident she'd run into the middle of on Coney Island. She was _not_ happy about the whole thing, but there wasn't exactly a lot she could do about it. If you want more details, go check out our last story.

Another detail about Ariel was that, because she didn't have Ivy's power to travel on anymore, she'd ended up in the Marvel universe. She kept saying something about "belonging there", which made no sense to me but seemed to make some to Ivy.

Ivy played with the watch in her lap. Nearby, Phillip was sleeping.

"What will you do now?" I asked.

"Aside from combing time and space for Natalia? I'll be coming back to Earth, actually. Living in London. As you may have noticed if you watch enough science fiction, Earth is apparently an important, central planet in pretty much every universe. Good for basing an investigation off of."

At least we'd be on the same planet again. We might run into each other... or not. "And what about HYDRA?"

"I don't intend on spending too much time _living_ there. I'll be all over time and space. The Doctor already set me up with an apartment in London."

"Why London? Why not in America? Or at least Canada? Somewhere on the same continent?"

"I like England. And it's a good distance from where the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D are. I have to avoid them for a while. It's... complicated."

"Do you watch their show still?"

"Shocking as it may seem, yes. I can get movies from Earth, and I do travel a bit with the watch and all. I marathoned _Call the Midwife_ a week after I got here – which, in retrospect, was a bad idea."

"What do you mean?"

"_Call the Midwife_ is this show about midwives in London during the 50s. It has very... realistic birthing scenes." She shuddered. "But I like to know how everyone's doing and if there's any emergencies, I can show up lend a hand. By now, I could probably spend a few days with them and then leave without causing any trouble, but... explaining everything would probably take a while. So I'm waiting for an emergency. And besides, it isn't safe. I don't want to put them or anyone in danger."

"How are you going to afford to live in London? I mean, an apartment there probably isn't cheap."

"I know. The Doctor offered to pay, but I've decided to go into business and pay for myself."

"Business?"

"Yeah. See, I watch a lot of movies and read a lot of books when I'm relaxing. That means more universes to travel to, with more information. Information that I could sell and make money off of, theoretically. Information about the future. Who wouldn't want that?"

"People who won't believe you."

She shrugged. "Eventually they will. After I've proven myself. I've decided to call myself the Fortune Seller. A bit lame, but it gets the point across."

"That's a horribly risky plan with which almost anything could go wrong. You could get killed."

"Yeah."

Her whole plan actually sounded crazy enough to work.

She stood up and walked to the cradle, putting Phillip down.

Carmen appeared. "Hi. Why don't you go on a walk outside, Ivy? You and Edward. I'll take care of Phillip."

Ivy shook her head and picked him up again.

"Fine. I'll come with you and take care of him and stay within sight. But you're going to get some fresh air and sunlight, and I don't _care_ if you don't want to leave. You've been inside for much too long."

Ivy stared at her for a moment, then silently handed Phillip over.

We walked outside on the hospital grounds. They were full of trees and shrubbery and grass. The air smelled like flowers – some kind of flower they don't have on Earth. The paths were lined with them – bell like, bright red and tall.

"How about Miranda and Jack? Carmen said they were dating?"

"Yeah. I don't know if they've run out of energy to travel on yet. We don't talk anymore because you're not there. It's probably all come off by now"

"Speaking of dating... I have something I need to tell you."

Oh, boy.

"I just wanted to say that... if circumstances ever change... if I ever lose my power... I wouldn't be against having another talk about our feelings. I can't think about it right now. I don't know how I feel. It's too dangerous, circumstances being what they are. I have to find Natalia, there's so much I have to do. I'm not planning on involving myself with anyone until I'm ready to get married, and with the way things are, that's probably never, but..." she trailed off. "I respect you – I have for a while, ever since I heard about the secrets you kept when HYDRA had you. And... I like you, Edward."

From what I'd heard about Ivy before, that was probably the first time she'd ever said anything like that to anybody before. "Thanks." I reached across, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

She smiled, then turned back to look at Carmen.

We sat down on a bench a few yards away.

"I'll miss you," I said.

"And I'll miss you."

Ivy seemed to be thinking for a moment. "Do you remember the musical? I think that was the first time I properly met you."

"Yes. I just remember watching you dance around the stage all the time."

She smiled. "I actually don't even like ballet that much. I only took it because my parents made me and because it helped me with my footwork in martial arts. The incident _I_ can't get out of my head is the Raoul and Christine blundering into me during the masquerade scene on the third night."

He laughed. "Oh, right. Ariel didn't even notice that she'd knocked you onto the floor until I told her two days later."

She smiled. "You know, I've never danced with a guy before. Not outside of doing ballet stuff, and I didn't do much of that sort of stuff."

"Let me teach you." I jumped up off the bench. "There's room here. Just once. Something for us to remember."

Before she could protest, I grabbed her hand. I pulled my ipod out of my pocket and put on "Coney Island Waltz". I took her hands. "It's easy once you get the hang of it. See? One two three, one two three." I demonstrated, moving back and forth, pulling her after me.

Ivy stumbled slightly after me, but soon fell into the rhythm.

"See? It's easy once you get the hang of it," I said.

The song changed to another waltz – Strauss's"Tales from Vienna Woods".

"Do you have a waltz music playlist or something?" she asked.

My face burned slightly. "I taught myself to waltz alone in the basement," I admitted. "I had to learn for a play I was in."

We danced for a few more minutes then sat down on the bench again.

"You know..." said Ivy for a minute. "You know what I said about never being with anyone? No romantic relationships?"

"Yeah?"

"If that's the only even remotely romantic moment I get for the rest of my life, that would be okay. Because I don't think there's anything that could top that."

Ivy here.

Several days later, I had gathered some information and was ready to leave.

"You're sure you're not staying on Xandar?" said Peter Quill. We stood out in the hospital grounds. It was a lovely day, but no one was around.

I shook my head. "With the way things are, I can't. I have a little boy to look after, and I have to find his sister. Besides, I miss Earth. I've had enough of aliens for a little while. I owe you one, by the way, for getting me out of trouble with the government here." I gathered up Phillip from his crib.

"They were willing to agree to a lot of things. Keeping you and your friends out of trouble is the least of the things we asked for."

There was a brief pause.

"If there's anything we can do to help you find your daughter, don't hesitate to tell us."

"I don't think I'll need your help, but thanks. I got a message from a friend this morning. He had some information for me. When I touch things with my bare skin, I get an energy on it that can transport people to alternate dimensions. Hence, why I wear gloves all the time. I was... held as a prisoner for several months by a Terran group called HYDRA. Turns out, someone got that energy on them, came here, and decided to take revenge on me. They're back on Earth now." I bit down on my lip. "But I'll find them."

"I don't doubt it. Maybe we'll meet again one day."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm almost certainly we will." I adjusted the blanket and turned to Edward and Carmen. "It's time to go."

We said our goodbyes and walked out into the halls of the hospital. Edward and Carmen both put hands on my shoulders. I adjusted the watch dials.

A moment later, we were standing inside my London apartment. Small. A main room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. My new home.

The bedroom had a bed, and there was a kitchen table with chairs. In the cupboards were some food and dishes. All I had to my name.

It definitely could have been worse.

"I suppose we have to go now," said Edward.

"Not quite yet. There's a voice recorder in this teleporter thing. You know what that means."

And so that's what we've been doing for the last few hours. Retelling this story. It's great therapy.

I guess that's all for now. I'll be sending this off so it can be read by our lovely readers. Hopefully, I'll be sending in some updates about Natalia soon. I'm going to find her. And then I'm going to get rid of these powers so I can give them a safe, proper childhood. Ivy and friends out.


End file.
